Google Inc (GOOG) (GOOGL) Earnings Hinge On Mobile Performance

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will start its financial 2014 in earnest on Wednesday when it releases its earnings report for the first quarter of 2014. The accounts are expected to hit after the market closes on Wednesday afternoon. Despite consistent declines in the value of its PC business, analysts are expecting the firm to show solid revenue growth.

In the run up to the announcement, 32 analysts surveyed by Businessweek were expecting the company to show EPS of $6.42 by consensus. Revenue for the first quarter is predicted to hit $15.5 billion by the same group of analysts. In the same three months of 2013 Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) showed revenue of $14 billion, and managed to turn that into earnings of $4.79 per share.

Mobile enhancement dominates Google

In the last five years there’s been just one market that Google has concentrated on. Despite its numerous projects in all areas of tech development, Google has spent most of its effort ensuring dominance in mobile. The company has managed to do just that, and Google revenue from mobile is probably the most important number in the company’s quarterly reports.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has managed to show an ability to grow that revenue appreciably in recent quarters, and most of that augmentation has come on the back of the company’s Enhanced Campaigns product.

The service fits together the disparate worlds of mobile and desktop advertising. After an initial period of skepticism Google has managed to draw advertisers into its aggregate program, ensuring they stay with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) through the mobile transition and adding value to its mobile efforts.

Mobile revenue is expected to make up about 14% of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) sales during 2014, but as most web traffic moves to mobile, the company is going to have to monetize the smart phone in a much more convincing way. Wednesday’s earnings report will show the company’s progress during the first quarter of 2014, and the company’s success in that area will heavily prejudice reaction to the entire report.

Google’s project creep unlikely to affect results

The Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) projects that make headlines, like the company’s wearable Google Glass, its ISP business Google Fiber, and its self-driving car segment, are unlikely to have made any difference during the first quarter of the year.

Despite what the company spends money on, and what the media draws attention to, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) sells advertising based on user data. That’s what investors care about, not surprising news about the future of medicine. As soon as Google brings a marketable product out of its labs investors will care. Right now Glass, and so many other products, are simple speculation, and not worth much in a calculation of the firm’s value.